THIRD ROUND LOFT PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

02/12/2016

We are thrilled to announce the results of the third round of The Blue Room Theatre’s LOFT initiative. In this round, nine applications were submitted, with a total request of $209,148, and four projects were funded. These projects include three creative developments – Overnight from The Skeletal System, Rhubarb from Clare Testoni, and The Renegade Church from Renegade Productions; and a presentation of an existing work – Ecosexual Bathhouse from Pony Express. The total amount of funding distributed in this round is $63,805.

These projects join previous LOFT recipients The Elders Project, Those who fall in love like anchors dropped upon the ocean floor, Gareth of the Antarctic, Project Xan and Wild Wild Love. The Blue Room Theatre would like to thank our peer assessors who sat on this third panel for their time and effort in deliberating this round: Chi Vu (Writer & Director), Clare Watson (Artistic Director, Black Swan State Theatre Company), and Ben Winspear (Associate Artist, Griffin Theatre Company).

SUCCESSFUL LOFT PROJECTS (THIRD ROUND):

Ecosexual Bathhouse (Pony Express)

Presentation of an Existing Work ($14,504) – From 24 – 28 Jan 2017 Pony Express will rehearse and remount Ecosexual Bathhouse for their WA premiere at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. Ecosexual Bathhouse is an immersive experience inviting you to leave the urban wasteland behind and open yourself up to an intimate encounter with the biosphere. Experiment with pollination, unwind in the sauna or be guided by a bathhouse regular toward your own organic awakening. Ecosexual Bathhouse explores a radical environmentalism where the political becomes very personal.

Overnight (The Skeletal System)

Creative Development ($17,107) – Funding for the first draft and a nine day creative development of Overnight, a new work written by Will O’Mahony with the assistance of Adriane Daff, Eden Falk and James Berlyn. The development will be hosted by the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia and will culminate in an industry showing. Turning the ‘boy-meets-girl’ formula on its head, Overnight is an unlikely love story set against a world that is conditioned to hate. Exploring privilege, power and rehabilitation, Overnight will attempt to shine a light on what it means to be a pariah in our click-bait times. Inspired by Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Dr Mary Aitken’s The Cyber Effect, Overnight asks what penance might look like in our new online courts.

Rhubarb (Clare Testoni)

Creative Development ($20,194) – A creative development to adapt Craig Silvey’s critically acclaimed novel Rhubarb for the stage, written by Clare Testoni and directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler. The development will result in a script which will undergo a workshop process, culminating in a showing for potential presentation partners. The goal of the development is to create a piece of theatre accessible to both sighted and visually impaired audiences with support from City of Fremantle and in consultation with Visibility WA.

The Renegade Church (Renegade Productions)

Creative Development ($12,000) – The Renegade Church is an audience participatory performance work that reimagines the elements of a traditional religious service to ‘preach secular sermons’. These interactive sermons will ask the audience to reject nihilism and tribal world views, and ultimately promote social consciousness and the thoughtful critique and interaction within society. With the support of LOFT, Joe Lui will undertake a writing and concept development with mentorship from pvi’s Steve Bull.